Flexible wire gate



(No Model.)

. I A. T. MORROW, FLEXIBLE WIRE GATE.

No. 259,194. I Patented June 6,",1882.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcE.

ANDREW T. MORROW, OF TONGANOXIE, KANSAS.-

FLEXIBLE WIRE GA E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 259,194, dated June. 6, 1882.

Application filed February 20, 1882. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ANDREW T. MORROW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tonganoxie, in the county of Leavenworth and State of Kansas,have invented a new and useful Flexible Wire Gate, (which has not been patented in anyforeign country,) of which the following is a'specification.

My invention relates to a frameless flexible wire gate which is stretched by the action of latching and the objects of my invention are, first, to substitute wire for boards; second, to dispense with frame-work; third, to stretch and fasten the gate securely at the same time; fourth, to secure easy means of opening; and, fifth, to furnish a light, cheap, and durable gate'suitable to accompany the barbed-wire fence in the prairie States of the West.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the entire gate. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the lower catch and lock by a plane passing through the center parallel to the plane of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the lower end of the bar, and Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the upper end of the bar with the latch removed.

Similarletters refer to similar parts throughdut the several figures.

In Fig. 1, G and P are the gate-posts t j, h 70, and g Z, the barbed wires; or b, the bar c d, the upper catch; 0 f, the lower catch 3' r s q, the latch; tand u, the stay-bolts of the lower lock; '0, the stay-strap; m 0 and n p,thestays; andj, k, and l, the hinges.

In Fig. 2, b is a flange made by sawingaslit in the bottom of the bar. (See I) m, Fig. 3.)

In Fig. 4, a 3 is a slit in the top of the bar for the insertion of the latch.

The bar a b is made of wood with slits sawed in the top and bottom, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, which holdthe latch and lower lock and receive the catches when the gate is closed. The flanges made by the slits are socured by the stay-bolts 13 and s at the top, the latter forming the axis of the latch, and the stay-bolts t and u at the bottom, both of which form a part of the lower lock.

The stay-strapso are plates of iron with holes for the stay-bolts t and u, and an angle to lap round the angle of the bar to determine the position of the bolts t and u and prevent the bar from being split by the strain of the gate on the bolt u.

The upper wire attaches to the stay-bolt 'i. The middle and lower wires attach to the bar by passing through the holes at h and g. The ends-being bent are returned into similarholes by the side.

The upper catch, 0 d, is a screw-bolt flattened from the thread outward, with edges provided with ratchet-teeth to aid in the adjustment of the latch.

The latch-r s 1 turns upon the stay-bolt s, and the point is forced into the notches of the upper catch by the weight of the knob q. The latch is disengaged from the catch by the pressure of the palm of the hand on thelatch-handle r as the bar is grasped for removal.

The gate, when open, may be hung upon the fence by the knob g, which forms a hook when the latchhandle 1" comes in contact with the bar.

The lower catch, of, is a screw-bolt flat- I tened from the thread outward and notched on one edge with deep retreating notches, the intervening teeth being round on the tops.

The lower lock consists of the large staybolt t and the small stay-bolt u, whose. positions are fixed by the stay-strap '0, so that when the bar is erect the large bolt it will rest in the top of a notch in the lower catch, 0 f, while the small stay-bolt u will rest at the bottom of the next alternate notch.

When the upper end of the bar is withdrawn the large bolt t becomes a fulcrum upon which to raise the small bolt a, which would otherwise be held in position by the tension of the lower wire, 91.

In closing the gate the lower end of the bar is thrust forward upon-the lower catch, when the large bolt t will rest in the top of the farthest notch to which the pressure of the hand will carry it. The upper end is then thrust forward and caught by thelatch r s q, thus stretching the upper wires and slightly increasing the tension of the lower wire, while at the same time the movement of the upper end of the bar brings the small bolt u to its position at the bottom of anotch,where it is held by the weight of the gate,the thrust of the latch, and the tension of the lower wire until the bar is again withdrawn. The staysm 0 and n p are simply light sticks attached by fine wire, to prevent the barbed wires from becoming entangled when the gate is open.

The hinges j, 7., and Z are iron rings, to which the wires fasten. These may be dispensed with when the gate is not to be much used, the flexibility of the wires answering for the hinges. The latch and catches should be made of malleable iron.

The bar represented in the drawings is made of wood, but may be made of iron in either of the following ways: first, by joining two iron straps three-fourths of an inch apart by six stay-bolts, four of which will occupy the positions of i, s, t, and a in the wooden bar, and the other two the positions of 7L and 9, thus forming fastenings for the middle and lower wires; second, the bar may consist of an iron tube about one and one-half inch in diameter, of which the top will be similar to that of the wooden bar, while the flanges b at the bottom will consist of portions of the side walls bent outward, and the stay-bolts t and a will be replaced by portions of the rear and front walls curled outward and bent inward, respectively. The principles involved in the use of these'lastnamed bars I believe to be the same as of the wooden bar shown in the figures. I therefore include all three in this specification.

To put up the gate, the screw-bolt catches should first be placed in position, care being taken to set them horizontally. The bar should then be placed vertically on the catches and each wire attached first to the bar, then to the hinge, care being taken to stretch all the wires equally.

The wire may consist of any of theforms of barbed wire now manufactured; but some loosely-twisted double wire is preferable.

This gate may be put into a barbed-wire fence at any desirable point by cutting the wires at the post into which the catches are to be screwed and attaching the loose ends of the wires to the bar.

The drawings represent a farmgate of three wires, intended to turn cattle; but it may be made of any number of wires by using a longer bar and dropping the lower catch to a point below the bottom wire. When it is desired to turn hogs six wires should be used, with numerous stays.

I am aware that barbed wire has sometimes been used in the construction of gates to stretch between the boards or to filla stiff frame-work; butlam not aware that it has ever been used in gates without frame-work,to be made tense by the act of fastening.

What I claim as my inventiomand desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The flexible wire gate having the bar a b, provided with an upper and a lower adjustable fastening device, substantially as shown and described, whereby the upper and lower wires may be equally stretched, and expansion of the wires and change in the relative positions of the gate-posts may be corrected.

2. The combination, with the gate-post having a lower latching device, of the upper catch, 0 (I, having ratchetteeth, and the latch r s q and the bar a 11, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combinatiomwith the gate-post having an upper latching device, of the lower catch, cf, having retreating notches, and the stay straps a, bolts t and u, and bar a b, substantially as shown and described.

ANDREW T. MORROW.

0 \Vitnesses H. W. Bron, ASHLEY A. MooDY. 

